site.btaPM Petkov on Expulsion of Russian Diplomats: We Will Not Allow Others to Interfere in Bulgaria's Internal Affairs

Approached to comment last week's expulsion of ten Russian diplomats from Bulgaria, Prime Minister Kiril Petkov said on Monday that Bulgaria will protect its interests and will not allow others to interfere in its internal affairs.

Petkov was in Greece to inspect the construction works of the gas interconnector between the two neighbouring countries. 

On March 18, acting on a proposal by the competent Bulgarian authorities coordinated with Prime Minister Petkov, Bulgaria declared ten Russian diplomats accredited to this country personae non gratae because it held information that the Embassy officers were engaged in actions incompatible with the Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations. The Russian Embassy in Bulgaria described the decision as "a clear intention to reduce to the minimum the whole gamut of the Russian-Bulgarian relations". 

On Monday Petkov said that Bulgaria cannot harbour spies from a foreign country who work against this country's interests. 

The Prime Minister said that the information that the Russian diplomats who were expelled were spies came from the Bulgarian services. He said concrete information exists that is not in the public domain in respect of all of the ten expelled diplomats.

Petkov said the State Agency for National Security is working very seriously regarding foreign countries' spies that are found in Bulgaria. "From there, Bulgaria is assuming its powers," he said. 

Asked if all of the ten expelled diplomats have already left Bulgaria, Petkov said that an exception has been granted to one of them to delay his departure as he has a kid who attends school. "We made an exception for this person because the issue is not to demonstrate aggression," Petkov said. 

Earlier on Monday, the Russian Embassy in Sofia told the TASS correspondent here that the ten Russian diplomats had already left Bulgaria within the required 72-hour deadline.